St. Claire

Very few lines have the power to gut me as deeply as "I'm sorry, Sam. You deserved better in my hands." Even moreso than "No rich, young white kid ever got anywhere with my comparing himself to Rosa Parks." The Apology is such a good episode.

I have to say that I find it hard to believe that Casey has less charm and charisma on air than JJ's high school driving instructor, even when he is in a funk.

I feel as though I can't put Abby or Jenny in the same category as the Special Agents when trying to compare. I can easily make my parallels among Kate, Ziva and Bishop because they are serving the same narrative purpose, while the other positions are different from a dramatic standpoint. It's kind of like trying to decide whether I Fornell or Burley better; they are both enjoyable characters for me, but are not in the show for the same purpose. I have no doubt that Kate, Ziva and Bishop are all smart. So was Jenny, so it Abby, so was Col. Mann...but there is a huge difference between being written as a smart woman and coming across as a know-it-all or being written in ways where the intelligence of the character is presented by everyone praising her as opposed to her just doing and saying smart things in the appropriate contexts. Bishop comes across as the person who has to keep reminding you that she knows things, even though you've never done anything to dispute her intelligence, and ends of being pushy and off-putting.

I wasn't too chafed about the laundry issue, since I know a handful of people who work erratic schedules and therefore use laundry service. I work standard hours, and I am still notorious for my laundry piling up and having to do an emergency quick load of clean underwear because I am in danger of going commando if I don't (if the kids need to take showers or the dishwasher needs to be run, I have to hold off on doing laundry because there isn't enough hot water to do it all at once, then it gets to be late enough that I wouldn't be able to finish both washing and drying before I go to sleep, and if I leave the clothes in the dryer, the shirts and khakis get wrinkled and I don't want to haul out the ironing board in order to get dressed for work...) I was more irritated at April insisting upon Jackson making his own latte. Those frother things are a pain to clean and having someone else make your coffee drink is a reasonable indulgence. There is no way these habits of his are news to her- even the people who work down the hall from me know that I like foofy coffee and that I splurge a few times a week stopping at Starbucks on the way in. Seattle is a hotbed of coffee shops; Jackson is just trying to stimulate the local economy. As the wife of a kidney donor, I was pissed at the wishy-washy donor in this episode. My husband had to jump through so many hoops (medical and psychological tests) to verify his willingness and suitability for donation; to just change his mind at the final moment was just...I don't know. He was acting as though the idea that there were risks for the donor was a new concept; I've spoken to enough people who've donated organs that I had a hard time swallowing that. Even *I* knew the risk level involved wtih being a donor, and I only went through the first round of testing (blood draw to test type and antigens).

The funniest part of Tony in the closet with himself was him saying "I was finding myself," as he left carrying the cutout. I really, truly enjoy seeing Delilah. I love how she fits in with the NCIS team, and I think she and Tim are good together.

Of the three, I think Kate was my favorite. Ziva just never resonated with me...I can't put my finger on exactly why. (Full disclosure- I started watching NCIS during season 8, so I got my Kate and early Ziva background piecemeal though syndication). I suppose it's possible that Kate would have come to annoy me if she'd stayed on longer, though. I felt a bit as though Ziva's character when I started was different enough from the early Ziva I saw during old episodes that the progression didn't make sense to me. The continued idiom goof ups annoyed me, too. Ziva knew she was not good at speaking in idioms, but she kept trying and getting defensive about how the idioms didn't make logical sense. The less said about Bishop, the better. I just have not warmed up to her at all. I would be perfectly happy if she faded into the woodwork and Delilah got a bigger role.

They did a straight up Muchausen's case in an early season (woman was a...explorer or anthropologist or outdoorsy or...I don't know, something and kept getting sick). I can't remember if they've ever had one with MBP, though.

Watching my Sports Night DVDs has gotten me through some tough times. About five years ago, my son (then barely 8 years old) had a bit of a mental break and was hospitalized for about a week so we could get a diagnosis and treatment protocol started for his pediatric mood disorder. (Whoa, way to bring the board down there, Mama!) Aaaanyway...I would work part of the day, then drive up to the hospital an (approx. 1.5 hours from my office, 35 minutes or so from home) to visit him during evening visiting times while my parents watched the other kids for me. Coming home from the hospital, I would put in a few episodes of SN to bring my spirits back up. Even when it made me cry (see The Apology, the final scene from Eli's Coming, and Dana's meltdown in What Kind of Day Has It Been), it made me feel good because of how deeply the CSC gang cared for and protected each other.

When one of my children cannot find his or her shoes, I do tend to ask "Have you checked on your feet?" This simply proves that I am as capable as a stroke victim at making jokes.

Bringeth It On has always been one of my favorites. I thought Helen's anger at the "bad girl list" and her exhortation that the baby's father needed to be part of the discussion were spot on- both in character for her and also elements that simmer below the surface in real life situations and just don't ever get addressed in a satisfying or fair way. I loved Adam's cheerleader sculpture, and Joan's final audition cheer. And that was the episode that gave us the immortal "moose or elk" discussion between Luke and Kevin. As much as the kids sniped at each other, there were scenes to show just how much they cared about each other and how important they all were. The Rocky episodes touched me deeply. It's hard to say which I liked more- Death Be Not Whatever gave us some very good Joan introspection and life and death (and the realization what some people, like Rocky, just don't have the fear of what comes after life is done in with world), but Jump gave us good ripples.

I think some of the avatars (Cute Boy, as an example) could continue because they mature with Joan- she still can respond to snippy. Goth God will probably have to change, though, since the goth look is kind of pushing it when you are approaching 30. I'm sad that we would need a new comforting presence, since Kathryn Joosten is no longer with us. No matter how old we get, we will always needs our [mom, grandma, daddy, whatever], and having the opportunity to have Joan be able to turn to that same comforting diety as an adult as she did as a child would be touching.

A place to talk about the show itself- who's up for a rewatch, what have the actors moved on to, the sheer pointlessness of a 0-0 tie.

I should use the provolone line more; it's a good one. I actually do use "hip deep in pie" to refer to those days where life is just conspiring to make you miserable, which is why I chose it for the thread title. I toyed with "Park all covered in cheese" but figured that it wasn't quite as applicable to daily life. I was very excited about doing well in some board game we were playing, and kept exclaiming "Shoe money tonight!" until my daughter gave an exasperated "Stop *saying* that!" in an Isaac-like tone.

A place to post your favorite quotes from the gang at Continental Sports Channel, and the ways we manage to sneak Sorkin-isms into real life.